


Love you, obviously

by snoopypez



Category: due South
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:59:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2431415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoopypez/pseuds/snoopypez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray knew the first time he saw Fraser in the brown uniform. Well, okay, not the <i>first</i> time, because that had been when they first <i>met</i>, way back when Fraser ruined something Ray had going, and then Ray insulted Fraser’s dead father. All in all, a great day for everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love you, obviously

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on livejournal in 2009

Ray knew the first time he saw Fraser in the brown uniform. Well, okay, not the _first_ time, because that had been when they first _met_ , way back when Fraser ruined something Ray had going, and then Ray insulted Fraser’s dead father. All in all, a great day for everyone.

So Ray didn’t really count that. The next time, though, yeah - Ray knew. After they were yelled at at the station, and Ray was tracking the guy down at a diner and dragging him home - on some level, Ray knew he wanted Fraser, just like all the millions of women of Chicago wanted him. Not that he ever said anything.

Not until Fraser’s new boss, whatever her name was, _changed_ the uniform. That seemed like the stupidest decision _ever_. And even then, it wasn’t like Ray could pay that much attention - he was too busy trying not to _drown_ in a vault.

So he ended up giving Fraser advice in the way he did best - through yelling and friendly insults – and that was that. He figured if they got out of the vault alive and Fraser actually _took_ his advice, things would go back to normal. Except for how now Ray knew, really consciously _knew_ , that he had a thing for that uniform.

Turned out that it didn’t work out that way at all. And Ray was sure Fraser didn’t want him to know, but Ray was a _detective_ , okay, and he figured it out.

Figured out that Fraser had been _fired_.

The small, pathetic part of Ray could only think about how that meant _no more uniform at all_ for a bit, but he quickly moved past that and onto--

“She _what_?! Y’can’t do that just ’cause you finally stand up for yourself! What kinda boss _is_ she?!”

“The kind that doesn’t like to be talked back to, probably.”

“Shut up, Maria; who asked you?”

“Oh God, he’s not gonna go back to Canada is he?”

That, of course, was Frannie, sounding terrified at the very idea. Which hadn’t even occurred to Ray until then. He fell silent mid-rant, stared at both his sisters, then left. Just got up and went to the Riv, drove to Fraser’s apartment.

Because there was no way, right? Fraser couldn’t just _leave_. Just because the only thing keeping him in Chicago was a job he no longer had didn’t mean he’d _go_ , right?

When he got there, he was hardly convinced and the door was locked; he pounded on it for what seemed like hours but was probably seconds before Fraser opened it. He greeted Ray normally enough, but Ray barely noticed because Fraser was wearing the _brown uniform_.

“What are you doing?” His tone was accusatory.

Fraser’s smile faltered. “What do you mean, Ray?”

He wasn’t wearing the coat part, like he had been in the middle of getting ready for work. Or getting undressed. Ray stared at the suspenders like they were mocking him.

He continued staring as he brushed by Fraser and into the apartment. Diefenbaker raised his head hopefully for a second, then gave a dismissive grunt.

“You can’t expect Ray to bring you a treat every time he comes over,” Fraser told him, disapproval all over his face. Ray barely paid attention to either of them, because seriously, what was going on?

And okay, Ray was going to _try_ to bring up the subject delicately, ease into it, but that just wasn’t how Ray worked so what came out was--

“You were _fired_?!”

Fraser’s face went blank, that annoying _Mountie on guard_ non-expression taking up residence and annoying Ray in the process. He didn’t even have to ask before Ray was blurting out an explanation, which maybe sounded more like an excuse.

“Look, your desk is _right there_ , okay? I could tell something was up with you, and the papers were right there and I got _eyes_ , so – so – so why didn’t you tell me?”

There was a flicker of something on Fraser’s face then, which was ten times better than the blank look. He crossed his arms over his chest, which almost distracted Ray right off the damn _point_ , and said quietly, “Those papers are for a transfer.”

That shut Ray up. Because being fired, yeah, that was _bad_ and it would probably end with Fraser back in the frozen North, sure, but. There had been a slim _chance_ that... But this, a _transfer_?

Fraser was _leaving_. For real.

Ray opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He ran a hand over his scalp, felt like pacing and yelling and walking out and kissing Fraser stupid.

Turned out that he did none of that, because Fraser spoke instead.

“I’m glad you feel comfortable enough with me to go through my things. I’m only sorry that I can’t be quite that open with you.”

Which, yeah, great, _there_ it was - that passive aggressive thing Fraser pulled whenever he was angry but too polite to just come out and _yell_ like a normal person.

“You didn’t tell me you were planning to _leave_ forever!” Ray shot back, distress coloring every syllable. “Can’t even be open enough for that, huh?”

“I’m not leaving, Ray.”

For the eighteenth time that day, Ray was speechless. That didn’t make any sense; there were transfer papers and if the words were so great, just what he wanted to hear, why did Fraser look so miserable?

Maybe he _wanted_ to go.

“You, you’re not. You’re not?” When Fraser shook his head, Ray just came out and said it: “Why? Why would you _stay_?”

And Fraser - Fraser _blushed_. His cheeks went red and his gaze dropped and Ray couldn’t _believe_ it.

“Well, there are a multitude of reasons, Ray, not least of which being that Diefenbaker would never survive in the wild now, used to junk food as he is.” He very clearly ignored Dief’s betrayed look and continued rambling. “And really, I have a lot I can do here and I’ve grown rather - _accustomed_ to certain things--”

That was where Ray had to cut him off. “Things like what?”

Fraser finally looked at Ray again, the last traces of the Mountie blank look gone. And Ray _got_ it, because it turned out that Fraser was really kind of _bad_ at hiding what he was feeling when he let the mask slip off.

He was surprised into a short burst of laughter - purely out of _relief_ \- and he said, “Well, that’s a coincidence.” He walked closer, continued before Fraser could question him. “I got some things I love here, too.”

Yeah, that was definitely _hope_ in Fraser’s eyes. Ray should have known never to second-guess his hunches, even if they were ones he just got two seconds before.

“Of course, Ray. You have your family, and you know the city better than anyone, and--”

Ray had a hand wrapped around one of Fraser’s suspenders in an instant, heart racing. “Shut up, Benny.”

Fraser did -- kissed Ray before Ray could get there first, all six feet of Mountie and brown uniform pressed up against him and yeah, he _knew_ Fraser wasn’t going anywhere.


End file.
